Barrier gate especially for small children

ABSTRACT

A temporary barrier for an opening includes a frame which is securable in the opening and a gate which is connected to the frame to swing open and closed, the gate including a manually activatable locking device which can include an inverted U-shaped housing that straddles an upper member of the gate, an operating handle that is positioned beneath the upper member and between sides of the U-shaped housing, and a lock bar which extends downwardly from the operating handle to cooperate with a part of the frame to lock or unlock the gate relative to the frame, the operating handle being biased downwardly by springs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a barrier gate of the type, thatincludes a frame which is secured in an opening such as a doorway or astaircase so as to seal off the opening, and an openable gate with alocking mounted in the frame for locking the gate in a closed position.

2. The Prior Art

An example of such a child safety gate is known from GB-A 2 226 845. Adisadvantage is that the lower corner of the gate is not fixed in thelocking position and Is deflectable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This problem is solved by a child safety gate according to the inventionwhich includes a locking member with an operation handle at the uppermember of the gate for the activation of an engaging part at the lowermember of the gate, the engaging part being designed for engaging thelower member of the gate which is designed for receiving the engagingpart. Hereby a safe fixation of the lowermost corner of the gate isobtained. It is understood that of necessity other looking devices canbe fixed to the top corner of the gate, e.g., activated through the sameoperation handle.

In a simple manner the locking device is designed with an operationhandle which is downwardly loaded with a spring, i.e., when opening thegate it is to be pulled upwards. This ensures an easy handling foradults combined with it being a difficult movement, if not even animpossible one, for small children to operate. At the same time it ispossible to provide an extra security through a heavy spring load, whichonly can be overcome by an adult person.

The locking device is preferably fixed to the upper member of the gate,with the operation handle below the member and at a distance such thatan adult person, with the palm of his hand on the upper member, cannevertheless reach below the operation handle and activate it with hisfingers. This results in an operation that is easy to accomplish and asimple construction.

The engaging part is in a particularly simple manner formed at the endof a bar connected to the operation handle and where the end extendsthrough the introduction in the upper member of the gate and can go intoa locking engagement with a lock hole on the top side of the lowermember of the gate frame. Hereby a safe locking of the lowermost cornerof the gate is achieved.

In order to unload or as a stop for the operation handle, the bar isdesigned with a stopping means for co-operation with the top side of thelower member of the gate frame for determination of the extreme positionof the bar. This gives a simple construction as the operation handle inthis case does not need to be designed with proper stops.

Alternatively, the engaging part can be shaped as a fork fitting thatgrips around the top side of the lower member of the frame, which alsoprovides a safe fixation.

A particularly simple embodiment is achieved by forming the fork fittingso that it also grips around the lower member of the gate and is guidedthereon. Hereby extra equipment for guiding the fitting is avoided.

The connection between the operation handle and the engaging parts doesnot necessarily have to be a rigid connection, but could be a wire, astring, a strap or the like, and that the engaging part isspring-loadedly arranged for locking engagement in the lower member ofthe gate. In such a case the guidance is suitably hidden away in a tubewith a view to the child's safety.

A particularly preferred embodiment of the locking device includes aU-shaped part fixed straddling on the upper member of the gate, and theoperation handle extends up between the sides of the U-shaped part, anda spring means is placed between the lower side of the upper member ofthe gate and the top side of the operation handle. This construction issimple and easy to mount and easy to operate but foremost child proof.

In barrier gates of the type where a fixed grid piece is present at eachside of the gate, the operation handle can be designed in a U-shape withan elongation beyond the front edge of the gate intended for engagementacross the top side of the upper member of the gate frame for providinga locking engagement therewith. Hereby, a fixation of the top corner ofthe gate is obtained as well. The fixation can be further improved inthat the elongated part furthermore is provided with a dowel forengagement with a hole on the top side of the upper member of the gateframe.

The invention will in the following be further explained with referenceto the accompanying drawing that exclusively displays the essentialparts for the understanding of the invention.

In the drawings:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a section of the front end of a first embodiment of thegate.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the handle, and

FIG. 3 shows a section at the front end of a second embodiment of thegate according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the figures a gate is displayed where a number of gate bars 8 extendbetween an upper member 4 and a lower member 6. The gate is hinged tothe frame at the side that is not shown in the drawing. The lower memberof the frame is shown by the reference number 10.

The locking device of the gate comprises a handle 12, which consists ofa U-shaped top part 14 that is placed on the upper member 4 of the gateand that extends beyond the member 4. Below the upper member 4 anunderpart 16 is placed in the top part 14. This underpart 16 is slidablyplaced in the top part 14 and loaded by spring 18 to an extremeposition, i.e., downwards. The spring-load could be provided by coilsprings, but most suitably a leaf spring is used. To the underpart a bar20 is connected that also functions as a gate bar. The end of the bar isformed as a fork fitting 22 that grips around the lower member of thegate and extends down on the side of the lower member of the frame, andthrough this locks the lower corner of the gate in a closed position. Inthe plane of the gate the bar 22 could be provided with not shown sideguiding projections on the lower member of the gate.

Instead of the fork fitting the bar can extend through a hole in thelower member of the gate and down in an underlying hole in the lowermember of the frame, whereby a locking effect is achieved.

In FIG. 3 a second embodiment of the gate according to the invention isshown where the handle 12 has an extension for engaging the top side ofthe upper member on the gate that here is of the type where both sidesof the gate have a grid piece. The handle is loosely placed on the uppermember of the gate, but is otherwise spring-loaded as before, as thehandle has a bottom piece where the bar 20 is connected to. The springis provided between the bottom piece and the lower side of the uppermember of the gate in such a way that the handle is held down by thespring force. By pulling the handle as a whole upwards to the positionindicated in dotted lines, the locking engagement is released, as thebar is pulled up from the lower member and the extension of the handleis lifted free from the upper member.

By the invention a simple locking mechanism is thus provided that in thelocked position of the gate simultaneously fixes the lower corner ofsaid gate.

I claim:
 1. A child barrier for temporary barring of an opening byinsertion and securing of the barrier in the opening, said child barriercomprising:a frame which is securable in the opening and which includesa lower member having a lock hole on a top side thereof, and a gatewhich is hinged to said frame so as to swing relative to said frame toopen and close said opening, said gate having an upper member, a lowermember having a hole therethrough, and a lock device having an operatinghandle at said upper member and a lock bar extending from said operatinghandle to said lower member and longitudinally movable by said operatinghandle to move through said hole in said lower member of the gate toenable an end part of said lock bar to lockingly engage in the lock holeof the lower member of said frame.
 2. A child barrier according to claim1, wherein said lock bar includes stop means for cooperating with thelower member of said gate to determine an extreme lower positioning ofsaid lock bar.
 3. A child barrier according to claim 1, wherein saidgate includes a plurality of gate bars which extend between said uppermember and said lower member thereof, said lock bar functioning as oneof said gate bars.
 4. A safety barrier for temporary insertion in anopening to prevent passage of a person or animal through the opening,said safety barrier comprising:a frame which is securable in the openingand which includes a substantially horizontal lower member, a gate whichhas one end hinged to said frame so that an opposite free end can swingrelative to said frame to open and close said opening, said gatecomprising an upper member, a lower member, and a locking device, saidlocking device including an inverted U-shaped housing straddling saidupper member, an operating handle positioned beneath said upper memberand between sides of said U-shaped housing, a spring means locatedbetween the operating handle and the upper member to bias said operatinghandle downwardly relative to said upper member, and a lock bar whichextends downwardly from said operating handle to move longitudinallybased on movement of said operating handle relative to said uppermember, a lower end of said lock bar being movable downwardly to lockthe free end of said gate to said frame and close said opening when saidoperating handle is biased by said spring means downwardly relative tosaid upper member, and upwardly to unlock the free end of said gaterelative to said frame when said operating handle is manually movedupwardly relative to said upper member.
 5. A safety barrier according toclaim 4, wherein said lock bar includes stop means for cooperation withsaid lower member of said gate to determine an extreme lower positioningof said lock bar.
 6. A safety barrier according to claim 4, including afork means at said lower end of said lock bar for straddling a top ofthe lower member of said frame to lock said gate in position.
 7. Asafety barrier for temporary insertion in an opening to prevent passagethrough the opening of a person or animal, said safety barriercomprising:a frame which is securable in the opening and which includesan upper member and a substantially horizontal lower member, a gatewhich has one end hinged to said frame so that an opposite free end canswing relative to said frame to open and close said opening, said gatecomprising an upper member, a lower member, a side member, and a lockingdevice, said locking device including a U-shaped operating handle whichstraddles said upper member of said gate and is movably mounted relativethereto, said operating handle extending beyond said side member toengage with a top side of the upper member of said frame for lockingengagement therewith, and a lock bar which extends downwardly from saidoperating handle to move longitudinally based on movement of saidoperating handle relative to said upper member, a lower end of said lockbar being movable downwardly to lock the free end of said gate to saidframe and close said opening when said operating handle is biased bysaid spring means downwardly relative to said upper member, and upwardlyto unlock the free end of said gate relative to said frame when saidoperating handle is manually moved upwardly relative to said uppermember.
 8. A safety barrier according to claim 7, wherein said lock barincludes stop means for cooperation with said lower member of said gateto determine an extreme lower positioning of said lock bar.
 9. A safetybarrier according to claim 7, including a fork means at said lower endof said lock bar for straddling a top of the lower member of said frameto lock said gate in position.
 10. A safety barrier according to claim7, wherein said upper member of said frame includes a hole and whereinsaid operating member includes a dowel which fits in said hole when saidoperating member engages with the top side of said upper member of saidframe.